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A pitfall talks about a danger or problem that is hidden or lurking somewhere and that is not immediately obvious. One of the greatest own-goal any leader can score against himself or herself is not to envisage certain dangers or drawbacks that may want to present themselves in the cause of leadership. As a matter of fact, the best way to prevent these dangers or drawbacks is to envisage them and adequately prepare for them, even before they show up. This is why ability to see ahead is one of the hallmarks of a great leader. For example, God led the children of Israel through a longer route than a shorter one because He saw the pitfalls ahead and bypassed it. In Exodus 13:17-18 (AMP), the Bible says:
Listen to Podcast: Leadership Pitfalls and How to Navigate Them
“So it happened, when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearer; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war [that is, that there will be war], and return to Egypt.” 18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea; the sons of Israel went up in battle array (orderly ranks, marching formation) out of the land of Egypt.”
One of the responsibilities of a leader is to see ahead and provide leadership for his team or the entity he or she is leading. In that place we read, we saw that there was actually a shorter route that the children of Israel could have taken that would lead them into the promised land immediately they left Egypt. But God didn’t lead them through that way. The question is: Why? God knew there would be war. The children of Israel did not know why God had to take them through that longer route. Sometimes as a leader, your followers or team may not know why you make certain decisions or take certain actions. They may not be privileged to see the pitfalls or the dangers ahead because they are simply following. But for a leader, it is not an excuse. You just have to lead from the front and not from behind so that you can see ahead.
In Genesis chapter 41, Pharaoh had a dream that got him troubled. And so, Joseph was brought in from the prison to interpret the dream of Pharaoh, based on the recommendation of the chief butler. After Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, he gave a number of counsels to Pharaoh as to what the nation must do in order for them to avert the crisis that is coming ahead of it and its people. But see what Pharaoh did instead, from verse 37-41:
“So, the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt simply because he foresaw the danger ahead of the nation and he was appointed to lead the nation out of that danger. You see, in your leadership, if you keep falling into one trouble or the other that is bringing about setbacks to your leadership, you should simply step down from that leadership position and allow a more competent person to lead. Instead of you to bring about promotion and progress into the organization, but instead, you keep on brining setbacks because of your inability to see the future and your errors in judgment, then you should be sacked from that job. Even if you are not sacked, if you are honorable enough as a leader, you should resign and allow a more competent person to take over the leadership of that organization or the entity that you are leading.
In the next few paragraphs, I want to share with us certain pitfalls that you must avoid in the cause of your leadership assignment as a leader.
#1: Arrogance [Case Study: Moses]
“Now there was no water for the congregation; so, they gathered together against Moses and Aaron. 3 And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus, you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. “Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
Numbers 20:2-4, 7-9, 11-12
Moses was the man God used to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, then assisted by Aaron. From the beginning, God did not tell Moses that he was not going to make it into the promised land with the children of Israel. The assignment was that he would lead them into that land that God had promised their fathers. But unfortunately, Moses didn’t make it. God needed to take him out of the way as the journey into the promised land progresses, not because he was found with another man’s wife or because he stole from the children of Israel. Moses didn’t make it into the promised land simply because he was ARROGANT. Ands this is very important for leaders to take note of because along the line in your journey of leadership, because of the way and manner you have led and have results to show for it, there is every tendency for arrogance to want to set in. There is every tendency for pride to also come in and the Bible says that pride usually precedes a fall.
#2: Lack of Growth or not Evolving [Case Study: The Seventy Disciples]
“After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2 Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:1-3, 17 and 20
In this passage, Jesus warned His disciples not to plateau because of the progress that they made in the field. At some certain levels in leadership, there is every tendency for a leader to want to plateau or stop evolving. There is that propensity in leadership in which a leader may want to assume “everything is fine” about himself or herself and therefore, stopped evolving. This should never be the case. It is a major pitfall in leadership that every leader must avoid at all cost.
#3: Not Teachable [Case Study: Rehoboam]
I want to use a story in 1 Kings 12 to illustrate this point and I am just going to paraphrase some part of it. When king Solomon died, Rehoboam his son took over the reigns of leadership in his stead, and he was reigning over the entire nation as their leader (1 Kings 11:43). Now, when Jeroboam, one of the supposed rivals of king Solomon who was on exile in Egypt heard that Rehoboam has been crowned king in the place of Solomon, he returned from exile to Israel to make peace entreaty with Rehoboam the new king. See what the Bible says:
“Then Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” 5 So he said to them, “Depart for three days, then come back to me.” And the people departed.”
1 Kings 12:3-4
After this meeting with Jeroboam, Rehoboam consulted with the elders of the land that stood before his father Solomon in order to know what to do concerning the matter on ground, and the elders said to him:
“And they spoke to him, saying, “If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” 8 But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.”
1 Kings 12:7-8
The Bible made it clear that he rejected the counsel of the elders who had served his father and consulted with the young men, his peer group. He eventually went with the decision of the young men which brough about the division of his kingdom. Now, what is the point I am trying to make here? One of the pitfalls in leadership is not staying teachable by the leader. When a leader is not teachable, just as we have seen in the case of Rehoboam, it might result into his or her downfall or better still, bring about a crack in his leadership. For Rehoboam, it brought about a crack. But for another person, it may not be a crack but a complete downfall. May this never be our portion in leadership.
Alright, this is where we are going to draw the curtains on this week’s edition of Leaderview and I believe you have learnt something that would help your leadership going-forward. You must remember that there are pitfalls in the journey of leadership and what a smart leader does is that he or she envisages this pitfall and adequately navigate them. This you must do as a leader if you want to arrive safely in your leadership destiny.
Please don’t forget to share this podcast with your friends, drop your comments in the comments section and let me know your thoughts on what we have shared with ourselves today. Till next time on Leaderview, I remain Abiola Obayomi; stay blessed and God bless you.
Article Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
